Jan. 21, 2004
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Behind a record-setting defensive performance and a balanced offensive attack, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team eased past Syracuse, 64-35 on Wednesday night at Manley Field House. The 35 points allowed were the fewest ever allowed by the Irish in a BIG EAST Conference road game, and they were the second-fewest ever yielded by Notre Dame on the road, topped only by a 27-point lockdown at Valparaiso exactly 22 years earlier (Jan. 21, 1982).
Junior forward Jacqueline Batteast (South Bend, Ind./Washington HS) led the Irish at both ends of the floor, posting her fourth consecutive double-double and seventh of the season with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in just 28 minutes of action. Sophomore forward Courtney LaVere (Ventura, Calif.) continued to provide solid play off the bench, notching 10 points for her third consecutive double-digit game. Notre Dame saw 10 of its 12 players in uniform put points on the board, as the Irish reserves matched Syracuse’s total offensive output (35 points) in the contest.
As a team, Notre Dame shot 46.4 percent from the field (26 of 56), marking the third consecutive game in which the Irish have connected at 45 percent or better. Notre Dame also won the rebounding battle by a 47-26 margin and only committed 11 turnovers, one more than its season low (10 vs. Wisconsin on Dec. 4).
Chineze Nwagbo led the Orangewomen with a game-high 13 points, nine of those coming in the second half. Meanwhile, Syracuse’s leading scorer, all-BIG EAST guard Julie McBride, was held in check by the Notre Dame defense, tallying eight points (less than half of her season average of 17.8 ppg.). The Orangewomen also posted a .231 field goal percentage (12 of 52) in the game, matching the lowest by an Irish opponent this season (Dayton on Dec. 13).
Notre Dame (10-7, 3-2 BIG EAST) jumped out to early leads of 6-0 and 8-3, the latter margin coming when Batteast knocked down a jumper four minutes into the game. Syracuse came back and squared the game at 8-8 when Nwagbo hit a layup with 13:48 remaining in the period. That would be the first and only tie in the contest, as Notre Dame outscored the Orangewomen, 20-8 over the final 13 minutes of the first half, holding their hosts to just two field goals in that time. A pair of free throws by sophomore guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne HS) with 22 seconds left in the half handed the Irish a 28-16 lead at the intermission.
Syracuse (6-9, 3-2) made a run at Notre Dame in the opening moments of the second half, scoring five of the first eight points and pulling within 31-21 when McBride hit a layup and was fouled with 17:18 to play. However, the veteran guard missed the ensuing free throw and the Orangewomen would never trim the margin to single digits the rest of the way. Syracuse did get as close as 15 points on three occasions in the second half, the last coming at 45-30 on a jumper by Nwagbo with 9:23 to go. The Irish then responded by going on a 19-5 charge to end the game, holding the Orangewomen to one basket over that final nine-minute span.
Notre Dame will return home Saturday for a noon (ET) game against No. 23/25 Villanova at the Joyce Center. The contest will be broadcast regionally as part of the BIG EAST television package, with Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network, Fox Sports Net Florida and New England Sports Network (NESN) airing the game live. The game can be seen in South Bend on a tape-delayed basis at 7 p.m. (ET) Saturday on WHME-TV (Channel 46). It will be the first of three consecutive games against ranked opponents for the Irish, who then will visit No. 18 Miami next Wednesday before playing host to No. 24/19 Boston College on Jan. 31.
— ND —